Lamp for body cavities



Oct- 9, 1934- H. R. MoRRow l yg LAMP FOR BODY CAVITIES Filed May 22,1933 Patented Oct. 9, 1934 'ETES rarer cerros Claims.

These improvements relate to lamps for illuminating body cavities, withspecial reference to oral work, as in dentistry. Small hand lamps of Kthe general character of the present one and for 5 the purpose indicatedhave been suggested and are in use.

Objects of the present improvements are to increase the emciency of suchdevices through :the provision of a relatively large amount of i light;to prevent such expense and annoyance asis incident to the glass globesheretofore employed because of their frequent breakage; to lessen theinitial and the maintenance expense by providing a device which may usea low-cost I5 bulb instead of the relatively-high-priced special rbulbheretofore suggested; to provide a cooler lamp; to render such devicesmore sanitary and more easily cleaned and sterilized; and, in general,to provide a device of few parts, one which ,20 is strong and durable,one which has its exposed members so well insulated that the operatorwill not be subject to shocks from current, and to overcome Variousobjections and to provide advantages as will further appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side view of the devicecomplete, in a highly satisfactory form, with the iiexiblecurrent-carrying cable partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a medial longitudinal vertical sectional View thru thehand-piece portion and thru the globe element of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged medial vertical longitudinal sectional view thruthe lamp portion.

The hand-piece body 10 is shown as a cylindrical tube, formed or" suchinsulating material as Bakelite, hard rubber or the like. The ordinaryhand-piece has a metal tube, which is not only less satisfactory to thetouch but has irequently resulted in current discharges through l4,0 theoperators body due to faulty connections inside the tube. At the rearend of body 10 is a partial closure in the form oi a screw-plug 11through which passes the cable 12 and to which screw-plug is attachedthe spiral-sprng-winding 13 adapted to protect the cable fromundue'bending where it enters the hand-piece. A support 14 of insulatingmaterial (Fig. 2) is held in place by a screw l5, and through thislleror terminal support 14 pass the two at spring terminals 16 and 17,held tightly in support 14, the outer ends of which terminals areelectrically attached to the two cable wires at 16a and 17arespectively.

Spring terminal 17 has an inclined surfaceat i8, and the 'free end ofscrew 19, passing through and carried by the slidingsleeve 20, contactsthat (Cl. 12S-23) incline 18 and moves the front end of terminal 17 intocontact with the pin-like extension 22 of the lamp unit when sleeve 19is moved to the left in Fig. 2. TheV front end 23 of contact spring 16normally rests against the cylindrical stem 24 projecting from the baseof the lamp. It will thus be clear that ,lamp terminals 22 and 24 willbe 'put in circuit with the two current lines in cable 12 when slider 2ois moved to the left, or toward the lamp, in Fig. 2. The operator-holdsthe handpiece and thereby directs the front end as desired and with histhumb moves slider 20 forward to pass current through the bulb. It isold to make contact by a movable sleeve-type slider, but not accordingto the present means otherwise.

Turning to Fig. 3, terminal 24; is shown as a cylindrical co-aXialextension of a metal screwplug 25 having threads 25a which engagecoacting threads in the end 10a (Fig. 2) of hand-piece body 1G, and thelamp unit is thus held securely yet readily removably upon thehand-piece. Surrounding a portion of plug 25 is a metal tube 26,suitably of brass, as is plug 25, the tube 26 being rigidly andelectrically secured to the plug as by soldering. Tube 25 terminates atits free end in a screw-threaded end portion 27 adapted to receive thethreaded shell 28a of base 28 of bulb 29, one terminal of the lament 29abeing connected to the brass shell of base 28 while the other terminalof the lament is connected to the Contact part 29h 0f the bulb.

The lamp 29 distinguishes from thekind heretofore employed in dentallamps .of this type in that it is an ordinary bulb such as is used, forexample, in radio sets for illuminating the dial, or in smalldash-lights. It is therefore readily obtainable in the open market, andat about onetenth the cost of the special bulbs heretofore designed iorsuch purposes. It is also larger and sturdier, and'yields more light. Byconstructing 95 the device as a whole to accommodate such a lamp 1 savecost and expense, avoid the annoyance and loss of time due to thegreater difficulty of obtaining a special lamp, substantially avoidbreakages and get better illumination. These miniature lamps are ofstandard construction, have a base about ve-sixteenths of an inch indiameter and a transparent glass bulb which may be globular or elongatedand is about threeeighths of an inch in diameter.

Fig. 3 shows that terminal 22 extends as a rod 22a centrally of plug 25Aand tube 26 to a piece of insulation 30 rigidly secured in tube 26. Therecessed enlargement 22b'of rod 22 contains a coiled spring 31 pressingagainst a head 32 on contact ,110

rod 33, and thus a yielding contact is made at 29h with rod 33. The rod22, 22a is insulated as by a hard-rubber tube 34, from plug 25.

Rigdly secured to and outside of tube 26 is a tubular insulating member35, 36, 37, the part 35 extending beyond the free end of tube 26, thepart 36 having outer screw threads, and the part 37 being a collar-likeelement having a seat at 37a against which the end of globe 4() (Fig. 2)rests. This part 35, 36, 37 may be of Bakelite, hard rubber or the like.

The globe 40 (Fig. 2) has screw threads at 41 engaging those of part 36.This globe may therefore be readily removed, exposing bulb 29. Globe 40is an elongated hollow shell closed at its free end, and it will beobserved that with its screw-thread connection at 36 and its tight seatagainst surface 37a the interior of the device is thoroughly protectedagainst the entrance of a liquid. The device is similarly protected atthe connection 25, 10a (Fig. 2) Where the lamp unit is threaded into thehand-piece.

A distinctive feature of globe 40 is that it is made of a material whichavoids the bothersome and expensive breakage common with the ordinaryfrosted-glass globes currently in use, and it also, together with thebulb described, produces a stronger and more satisfactory illumination.Another important advantage is that it is comparatively cool and may berested against the body tissues without discomfort. Again, screw-threadsmay be cut directly into this material and thus the necessity of ametallic collar, to which the ordinary glass globe is cemented, isavoided.

As a result of much experimentation with various materials, I found thesubstance known as Beetleware, which is or the order of Bakelite, butsomewhat less fragile, well adapted to the present purpose. It is strongand tough, has the desired translucenoy in the lighter shades, conductsheat rapidly away from the bulb area to other portions of the globe andradiates it freely. The material may easily be moulded to the desiredshape. It may be boiled and otherwise sterilized. In the precedingparagraph I have noted other advantages.

There are various compounds of the general order of Bakelite andBeetleware which would serve. These are both formed from a plasticsynthetic resin, either of phenolic condensation product such asBakelite, or a urea product such as Beetleware, sometimes known asPlaskon or Beetle. I use the substance in a creamy gray color. The sideand end walls may be as thin as the practical moulding operations willreasonably permit. I preferably make these walls of such substantialthickness as about a sixteenth of an inch. The material is peculiarlyappropriate in its translucency, and yields a diffused glow that givesthe desired high illumination of the oral cavity while being less tryingto the eyes of the operator than is the frosted-glass globeheretoforevused, in which kind the globe has a White-bright areaimmediately at the bulb; While in the present device the light is moresubdued at the brightest areas while the entire globe glows with goodilluminating effect, the glow tapering in intensity from front to rear.The present globe is somewhat larger in diameter than the ordinary one,providing a greater area of glow and also better radiation of heat.

' VFrom Fig. 2 it will be noted that the globe is circumferentiallyspaced from tubular part 35 at 44, due to the greater diameter of thethreaded part 36 (Fig. 3) over that of part 35. This space 44 avoidsdirect heat conduction to the globe 40 and provides a passageway forlight and heat rays from the bulb whereby substantially the entire globehas illuminating properties and the heat is less confined.

The cable l2 leads to a resistance unit 45 (Fig. 1) having terminals 46adapted to plug into a wall socket or the like.

The device is notably simple and of few parts, is strong, durable,easily maintained sanitary, gives peculiarly satisfactory illuminationand overcomes numerous objections incident to devices of the samegeneral class heretofore suggested.

I contemplate as being included in these improvements all suchvariations, departures or changes from what is thus specificallyillustrated and described herein as fall within the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

l. In a dental hand lamp or the like, the combination of a tubular bodyof insulation material, a lamp bulb mounted at one end thereof, the bodyreceiving the bulb with the glass of the bulb substantially in contactwith the insulation of the body, current conductors passing through thebody and completely enclosed by the body, switching means including aninsulating movable member upon the exterior of the body for placing thebulb in electrical circuit with the conductors, and an elongatedtapering globe enclosing the bulb and telescoping upon the body, saidglobe being formed of a translucent material and having readilyremovable engagement with the body, whereby the lamp may be used with orwithout the globe, and the entire exterior of the lamp with or Withoutthe globe thereon is formed of a material substantially non-currentconduct- 2. The structure of claim l in which the globe and a portion ofthe body are in circumferential spaced relation to each other for asubstantial distance.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which the globe and body havescrew-threaded engagement at a point spaced a substantial distance fromthe lamp bulb, and the globe and the body between said screw-threadedengagement and said lamp bulb are in circumferentially spaced relationto each other and there is an exterior shoulder on the body abutting theglobe to provide therewith a substantially hermetic seal therebetween.

4. A dental lamp or the like embodying a tubular insulating body andhaving a lamp bulb mounted at one end thereof, in combination with anelongated globe of a length several times greater than its greatestdiameter enclosing the bulb and having readily removable engagement withthe body, said globe being imperforate except where engaged with thebody, and the globe and body being provided with interengaging meansrendering the globe impervious to liquids, said globe being formed of athin, synthetic resin material whereby the globe is translucent but nottransparent and is substantially unbreakable in normal use.

5. A handV lamp of the character described comprising a metal basehaving a screw-threaded projection adapted to enter the end of ahandpiece unit for ready removability therefrom, an insulating handpiece unit receiving said base, a substantially cylindrical metallicterminal element extending axially from said threaded projection andbeing adapted also to enter such hand-piece unit, a metallic rodinsulated from the base and extending axially therethrough and axiallybeyond said terminal, the free end of said rod constituting anotherterminal, an elongated metallic tubular element rigidly secured to thebase and in electrical contact therewith and extending from the base inthe direction opposite to that of said terminals, the free end portionof said tubular element being adapted to receive the metallic base of alament bulb lamp and to make electrical contact with the lament thereof,a lament bulb lamp held by said tubular element, means including saidrod extending longitudinally within said tubular element adapted to makecontact with said bulb lamp to complete a circuit through the lamentthereof, tubular insulating means surrounding said base in fixedrelation thereto and including an externallythreaded portion directedaway from said terminals, said tubular insulating means extending beyondthe free end of the metallic tubular element, and an elongated globe ofa translucent substantially unbreakable material having an open end inscrew-threaded and readily-removable relation to said last-mentionedthreaded portion and encompassing said bulb lamp.

HARRY R. MORROW.

